Looking for comments on Transpower Table Saws

[Frank Pellow]

I would appreciate it if anyone who has had experience with Transpower table saws to comment upon that experience. I am considering purchasing the TSC-10HK cabinet saw (with a replacement fence from Accusquare).

The saws are made in Taiwan by Mao Shan (www.maoshan.com) who make a lot of machines that are rebadged for various companies worldwide. For example in Canada the saw is distributed by Toolex and in Australia it is distributed by Carbatec.

By the way, rumour has it that Mao San make some (maybe even all) of the General International tools

[Tyler Howell]

My comment is Power Matic!:cool:

[Frank Pellow]

My comment is Power Matic!:cool:

Too expensive! (and probably too good)

I had originally planned to populate my new shop with a top-of-the-lie cabinet table saw such as a Powermatic 66 (in my case, the saw was likely going to be a General 350), but my plans have changed. Now, I plan to utilize a Guided Saw/Router system and use a table saw as an auxilary piece of equipment. I still want that auxilary saw to be good (not great) , I want it to have good dust collection, and I want it to be 240 volts.

[Tyler Howell]

Frank,
Said it before its the Hand not the tool! You've aready shown you don't need "too Good".;)

Too expensive! (and probably too good)

I had originally planned to populate my new shop with a top-of-the-lie cabinet table saw such as a Powermatic 66 (in my case, the saw was likely going to be a General 350), but my plans have changed. Now, I plan to utilize a Guided Saw/Router system and use a table saw as an auxilary piece of equipment. I still want that auxilary saw to be good (not great) , I want it to have good dust collection, and I want it to be 240 volts.

[Mark Singer]

Frank,
I have seen a few of them, I went to the distributer in So. Cal.....not very impressive! Quality was poor.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, try to find a way to actually see that saw before you buy, given it's not a well-know or well-distributed product. You may be able to get a similar machine and deal with one of the "house brands" at your Canadian tool stores, too.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Frank.....As stated by Jim.....don't "buy a pig in a poke"! I did and I have some real regrets.....I wouldn't do it again. You want to see it....test drive it if you can! Measure it!.......Even if it's a secondary tool.....money ill-spent is still money ill spent!

[Steve Evans]

Frank

I'm going to the Woodstock Wood Show on the Friday. I'll let you know if I see any there and who's carrying them.

Steve

[Frank Pellow]

Frank

I'm going to the Woodstock Wood Show on the Friday. I'll let you know if I see any there and who's carrying them.

Steve

Thanks Steve. Of course, in Woodstock the saw will be branded as Toolex. I expect that Dave from "The Sawshop" will be there demonstrating the saw. He was at the Toronto show earlier this year but I did not pay much attention then because I had my eye on a General cabinet saw.

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, try to find a way to actually see that saw before you buy, given it's not a well-know or well-distributed product. You may be able to get a similar machine and deal with one of the "house brands" at your Canadian tool stores, too.

Jim, I definately will "kick the tires" of any cabinet saw before I purchase it. I will also read as many reviews and obtain as many opinions as possible. That is what I am statrting tho do right now.

The Canadian "house brands" that I am checking are:

Toolex

King

Craftex

If anyone knows of any others that I should check, please let me know.

[Frank Pellow]

Frank,
I have seen a few of them, I went to the distributer in So. Cal.....not very impressive! Quality was poor.

Mark, can you be more specific about the quality? The Fine Woodworking review only said that the fence was poor and I would not plan to get their fence.

[Ken Garlock]

Frank, take a look at the cabinets saws offered by Bridgewood/Wilke. They have their house brand, and the General. I picked up the Bridgewood 10LTS last month. Weighing in at 461#, it is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. The only negative I have found is that it has a Taiwan motor, but it does have an interlock off/on switch like the MiniMax band saws use. I don't know what the exchange rate will do to you, but the saw costs 1399 USD plus shipping.

I bought mine based upon the recommendations I have seen regarding Bridgewood/Wilke and the good quality of their products. I am told that at trade shows they set the 10LTS next to a PM66 to show that their product is competitive with the 66. :eek:

I have had it only a couple weeks, but at this point in time, I would buy it again.

Happy hunting :)

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, take a look at the cabinets saws offered by Bridgewood/Wilke.

...

Happy hunting :)

Thanks for the tip Ken, but there are three things that prevent me from following up on it:

(1) I want to purchase from a Canadian dealer should I subsequently need service.

(2) I want to try out the saw before I buy it.

(3) I have set a maximum of $1,500 Canadian ($1,160 US) pre-tax and shipping.

[Mark Singer]

The castings were rough....the adjustments were not smooth as I remember...this was a while ago. The newer import saws like Jet have good quality...this did not.

[Frank Pellow]

This posting is a blatent attempt on my part :D to get additional feedback on this subject. By posting to the thread, it will get moved up in the list and maybe someone who can contribute will notice it there.

So far I have heard from Mark Singer who saw these machies some time ago and did not like the quality and Dean Bielenowski who has a similar machine (branded Carbatec) from the same manuafacturer and sayes the quality is good.

I will reiterate that it is not the quality of the fence that I am interested in becuase I already know that the fence is poor.

[Jim Becker]

Frank, it is unlikely you will get a lot of "experienced" commentary on this brand. I've attended probably a dozen shows in the past five years and never once saw such a saw sawing or sitting stationary soliciting savvy sales...

[Steve Evans]

Frank. I don't know if you look through the buy'n sell at all, or if you're even interested in buying used, but this weeks copy has at least 3 unisaws for sale, all at your price point or less. And all located within an hour of you. I believe there's a powermatic as well. I'll take a look again tonight. As a point of reference, I picked up a Unisaw for a buddy for $1600 Cdn that included three 8" dado sets ( Delta, Systimatic and Freud), the Delta tenoning jig and a mobile base. The saw was like new.

Steve Evans

[Frank Pellow]

Frank, it is unlikely you will get a lot of "experienced" commentary on this brand. I've attended probably a dozen shows in the past five years and never once saw such a saw sawing or sitting stationary soliciting savvy sales...

I guess that the absence of this saw at such events should tell me something. And, its not something good.

[Frank Pellow]

Frank. I don't know if you look through the buy'n sell at all, or if you're even interested in buying used, but this weeks copy has at least 3 unisaws for sale, all at your price point or less. And all located within an hour of you. I believe there's a powermatic as well. I'll take a look again tonight. As a point of reference, I picked up a Unisaw for a buddy for $1600 Cdn that included three 8" dado sets ( Delta, Systimatic and Freud), the Delta tenoning jig and a mobile base. The saw was like new.

Steve Evans

Steve, what it "the buy'n sell"?

I would buy used but I am not going to be buying for at least four months.

[Jim Becker]

I would buy used but I am not going to be buying for at least four months.
Buy when the deal is ripe if you find a "find"...whether tools or lumber. If you find a machine used that is in great condition and at a good price, do what you have to do to aquire it and either store it elsewhere or find a way to work around it. IMHO, of course.

[Bart Leetch]

Frank I'd like to encourage you if you find a nice used cabinet-saw at a reasonable price do what ever it takes to get it & put it under that new roof cover it with a moving quilt & some plastic. You might not see it again until you finish the shop but at least it will be there. :D :D :D :eek:

[mike lucas]

A fellow wood worker that I know bought a 12" Transpower and 5hp motor back in 1990 or so. The thing was pure junk. He had many arbor and alignment problems from the get go. He was unable to get the problems resolved, then after about 2 years the motor burned up.


The company nor the distributer would help him once he recieved it.
(He had paid cash I believe. Been so long, I am not sure of all the details.)

Like I said, that was 12-14 years ago. Seeing that they are still in bisness, they must have changed, or my friend`s situation was just one of a very few.
Hope this helps, and sorry to being bad news.

[Steve Evans]

Frank

My mistake on the name of the publication. It used to be called the buy'n sell but now goes by the name of isell or triad. I pick it up in the grocery store here, but there are lots of GTA area ads, so it must be available around you somewhere. You can place an ad in it for free, but have to pay $2.80 to buy the paper. This is where I dug up my Laguna 16HD and Powermatic planer last week.

The cream of this weeks crop is a General with Excalibur fence and sliding table. It's a bit higher than your budget at $2000
Unisaw with Unifence that says like new for $1400 in Brampton
Unisaw with Excalibur fence but 3 phase for $950 in Waterloo
and finally
Unisaw with Unifence 4 yrs old, excellent condition for $1500 in Fort Erie

Just so you don't get the wrong impression, this is the most Cabinet saws I've seen advertised in this paper at once. If you want any details, PM me.

Steve Evans

[Frank Pellow]

Frank

My mistake on the name of the publication. It used to be called the buy'n sell but now goes by the name of isell or triad. I pick it up in the grocery store here, but there are lots of GTA area ads, so it must be available around you somewhere. You can place an ad in it for free, but have to pay $2.80 to buy the paper. This is where I dug up my Laguna 16HD and Powermatic planer last week.

The cream of this weeks crop is a General with Excalibur fence and sliding table. It's a bit higher than your budget at $2000
Unisaw with Unifence that says like new for $1400 in Brampton
Unisaw with Excalibur fence but 3 phase for $950 in Waterloo
and finally
Unisaw with Unifence 4 yrs old, excellent condition for $1500 in Fort Erie

Just so you don't get the wrong impression, this is the most Cabinet saws I've seen advertised in this paper at once. If you want any details, PM me.

Steve Evans

Thanks Steve, I was not aware of the publication but will look for it. How frequently is it published?

[Steve Evans]

Frank

It comes out every two weeks. The latest edition came out yesterday. I try and pick it up early for obvious reasons :D

Steve Evans

[David Tolsky]

I bought a 10" Transpower blindly and added a Sears Exacta-Rip fence system and never looked back. They put a 2hp motor on it.

[Russel De Arman]

Thread necromancy....

[Chris Padilla]

David, you revived a thread from 11 years ago!

[David Tolsky]

I had to. I'm looking for info on a Transpower 10" tablesaw and wanted to get a dialog going again. I bought my Transpower about that long ago and just bought a new belt for the motor. Right now the motor is only supported by the belt tension. There is a loose what appears to be mounting bracket dangling so I'm wondering if a part can be bought to support the motor, or if the belt itself is all the motor needs to be held for support. Was hoping someone out there would know.

[ian maybury]

Don't know the saw in question, but another to say don't buy below a quality level you won't be happy with. Especially since budget stuff so often is fitted with e.g. a fence or other hardware that mean that no matter what you do to try to dial it in it can never perform due to misalignments/vibration, lack of stiffness or roughness etc.

Buying a good brand used is generally the best shot at getting into something decent when the budget is tight...